It’s a bang. Haar wants to become a city. The municipal council decided on Tuesday after the intention had only become known to a broader public a few days earlier. The application can therefore be submitted to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. The matter is over on the part of the community. But the process raises many questions. The mayor and the municipal councils have often talked about it internally. But otherwise? The whole thing seems rushed and ill-prepared. And why are the future townspeople hardly involved? Such a step should be carried by the mood of the place.
Historically, a city elevation is a sovereign act of great importance that emperors once performed. “City air makes you free,” they said, because it went hand in hand with civil liberties. Citizens were then aware of their status for centuries. Today, the Ministry of the Interior can declare municipalities to be cities. Legally and financially, this is of little importance. But it further sets a commune apart. The mayor becomes the head of the city, the municipal council becomes the city council. And the citizens become city dwellers.
The Ministry of the Interior applies strict standards to city surveys. Puchheim and Olching were the last in Bavaria in 2011. For nine years, no commune was added. Especially in the prosperous Munich area with its large communities, the Free State is holding back. As early as 2001, the Ministry wrote the Haarern in the register that the hurdles are particularly high. And it also explains now that one should stand out from other comparable communities “clearly positively”.
Of course, hair brings a lot with it. Hair stands out, it has urban corners. But it would have been much better if the municipality had first completed its construction sites for schools, businesses and the development of the center. Even if the city elevation has above all symbolic meaning today, it should be approached well prepared, self-confidently and in solidarity with a citizenry that says: Yes, we want to be a city.